BARCA

Barcelona: Real Sociedad coach David Moyes faces his biggest La Liga challenge yet when second-placed Barcelona visit on Sunday and says his players have shown they are capable of beating the best.
The former Manchester United manager took charge of the relegation-threatened club in November. Since then they have lost only...

Barcelona: Lionel Messi is not thinking about breaking Telmo Zarra's La Liga scoring record of 251 goals despite having closed to within three of the former Athletic Bilbao and Spain forward.
Four-times World Player of the Year, Messi has scored five times in Spain's top flight this season, including two against...

Madrid: Disgraced Uruguay striker Luis Suarez, who is serving a fourmonth ban for a biting incident at the World Cup, could make his Barcelona debut against Real Madrid in El Clasico in October.
La Liga announced its fixtures for the season on Thursday and the first meeting of the two Spanish...

Barcelona have defended Dani Alves for his response to a racist taunt when a banana was thrown at him in Sunday's 32 win at Villarreal, and he responded by picking it up and eating. Soon after the incident, Alves' Barca teammate Neymar posted a photo of himself with a peeled...

Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has confirmed that club's top Argentine star Lionel Messi will be offered a new contract very soon, while terming the criticism of the club's long-serving star as "harsh".
"Messi is under contract until 2018," Bartomeu told TV3. "But we want to improve it to adapt to football's...

Barcelona: Barcelona's members have backed plans to remodel the club's iconic Nou Camp stadium to increase the capacity of Europe's biggest soccer venue from 98,000 to 105,000 and help boost sponsorship and matchday revenue.
Just over 72 percent of Barca's members who took part in a referendum on Saturday voted in...

Barcelona: Barcelona will lodge an appeal to try to overturn a ban on participating in the transfer market for breaching rules on the international transfer of foreign under-18 players, the club said on Wednesday.
FIFA, soccer's world governing body, announced earlier on Wednesday that it had banned Barca from the transfer...

Zurich: Barcelona were banned by FIFA from signing any players for next season after being found guilty on Wednesday of repeatedly breaching transfer regulations. The heavy sanction, which covers the summer and January transfer windows, followed an investigation into the Spanish champion's signing of players under the age of 18.
FIFA...

Barcelona: Barcelona have acted quickly to dismiss a story that coach Gerardo 'Tata' Martino would abandon the football club at the end of the season. Catalan sports network Esport 3 said on Monday that Martino would not be the Barca coach next season given that the Argentinean didn't want to...

Barcelona: Barcelona full back Jordi Alba has returned to training following his thigh strain, the Spanish champions said on Thursday. The Spain defender, who spent more than two months on the sidelines before Christmas with a hamstring problem, picked up his latest injury in last week's 2-0 Champions League win...

Madrid: The Spanish league will be dominated by the Barcelona vs Real Madrid 'Clasico'. In other matches, Atletico Madrid host 15thplace Real Betis and fourthplace Villarreal plays eighthplace Valencia. Here's what to look forward to in this weekend's games:
ANCELOTTI'S CLUE
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti is still tinkering with his preferred starting...

Madrid: Lionel Messi returned to training with his Barcelona team mates on Monday, suggesting the World Player of the Year could play a part in Wednesday's Spanish Super Cup second leg at home to Atletico Madrid.
The Argentina forward bruised a thigh in last week's first leg at the Calderon, which...

Madrid: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi hurt his left thigh during Wednesday's 11 draw at Atletico Madrid and will undergo tests to determine the severity of the injury.
Messi was replaced by Cesc Fabregas at halftime in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup. New signing Neymar went on as a...

Barcelona: Brazilian forward Neymar came off the bench to head his first competitive goal for Barcelona and rescue a 11 draw at Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup on Wednesday.
David Villa struck a superb 12thminute volley against the club he left in the close season...

Madrid: A mass exodus of talent from La Liga means the 20132014 campaign looks more than ever to be an exclusive battle for the title between wealthy Real Madrid and Barcelona. For years, the Spanish league has drawn players from all over the world but while Real and Barca, the...

Tel Aviv: Barcelona's starstudded squad will take a break from their regular preseason schedule to visit Israel and the West Bank this weekend on a twoday "Peace Tour." The Spanish champions are due to arrive in Israel on Saturday afternoon, only hours after playing a friendly against Brazilian club Santos...

Madrid: Barcelona captain Xavi Hernandez says he is happy at the arrival of coach Tata Matrino after Tito Vilanova's decision to step down due to his treatment for cancer.
"We lived a sad circumstance with Tito's relapse and it was the worst news the dressing room could hear, but now we...

Barcelona star Cesc Fabregas is on his way to Old Trafford, with Sunday Express Sport reporting that the midfielder has agreed to join Manchester United after a secret meeting between his agent Darren Dein and United's chief executive Ed Woodward.
"Woodward came home early from his club's extensive Far East tour...

Bayern Munich's coach Pep Guardiola has made his intentions clear. "I would like to get Thiago," the former Barcelona coach has told his new employers.
Spain's under21 international Thiago Alcantara has been EPL champions Manchester United's primary target, but Guardiola says he will want him to play in the midfield for...

Madrid: Champions Barcelona will host Real Madrid for the first time next season on October 26 or 27, the Spanish league said when the 201314 fixtures were announced on Tuesday.
Tito Vilanova's side face a new opponent in the dugout of their archrivals, Italian Carlo Ancelotti, and visit the Bernabeu for...

Barcelona: Barcelona have agreed to loan striker Bojan Krkic to Dutch champions Ajax for the upcoming season with an option for another one.
The 22yearold Krkic played the past two seasons on loan in Italy, first with AC Roma and then AC Milan. Ajax have won the Dutch league for the...

Brazilian star Neymar, who signed on the dotted line for Barcelona before helping his country clinch the Confederations Cup beating Spain on Sunday, has urged the reportedly onsale Wayne Rooney to join him at Nou Camp The Telegraph has reported.
"The style of football we [Barcelona] play and the level...

Playmaker Andres Iniesta hopes he remains with Barcelona for the remainder of his club career, suggesting the desire to have his contract renewed after it ends in 2015.
The attacking Barca midfielder, who also scored Spain's winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final against Holland, said he can't...

Madrid: Eric Abidal will be leaving Barcelona after six trophyladen seasons and having fought back from both a liver tumor and a liver transplant to play again. Abidal, who will turn 34 in July, said Thursday he would have liked to continue playing for the Spanish club.
"Football for me is...

Madrid: Barcelona had positive news on the injury front on Monday when David Villa returned to training and fellow forward Isaac Cuenca was declared fit after more than seven months out with a knee injury. Spain striker Villa has struggled to hold down a regular place in the side this...

Barcelona: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi was presented with his second Golden Boot award on Monday in recognition for scoring the most goals in Europe's domestic leagues last season. The 25yearold Messi scored a Spanishleague record 50 goals for Barcelona, edging out fellow Spanish league star Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid...

London: Frank Lampard believes Chelsea can claim victory against Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal after reaching the lastfour by defeating Benfica 21 on aggregate in the second leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.
The Blues took a 10 lead into the quarterfinal second leg against the Portuguese side and survived...

Barcelona: Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has admitted that his team are unlikely to retain their La Liga crown, but vowed to continue fighting until the end of the campaign.
The Catalans met heavy resistance from Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday, but managed to edge the game 21 courtesy...

Barcelona: Pep Guardiola still hasn't decided whether he wants to continue coaching Barcelona beyond this season.
The 41yearold Guardiola, who has won 13 out of a possible 16 titles since taking over the European champions nearly four seasons ago, said he would like to have made a decision already but he...

Leverkusen: After seeing his defenders thoroughly outclassed by Lionel Messi, Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voeller was dismayed that his players squabbled over the souvenir when Messi gave the shirt off his back at halftime.
Messi scored one goal, set up another and hit a post in Barcelona's 31 Champions...